Trust is an important factor affecting knowledge transfer in society. Without trust in those who impart knowledge, different kinds of knowledge, such as scientific and moral, cannot be properly acquired or distributed. Developing trust in both the technical aspects of the Internet and the human community is the first step needed for users to participate in a relationship via online transactions.

Trust between two parties is composed of trust beliefs related with predictability in a trustor’s expectations about the trusted party’s behavior as well as confidence in such a party’s benevolence . Trust is based on the assumption that parties will mutually behave in a fair manner and will neither take advantage of nor harm each other, leading to a belief in the fair intentions and motives of both parties.